Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Miso Porridge & GNOWFGLINS Tuesday Twister


Yes, yes, yes - I know it is now Wednesday morning... better late than never, right?  Yesterday I started the eCourse at GNOWFGLINS (Wardeh rocks!), and this morning I was having fun reading through the Tuesday Twister Blog Carnival on her site.  After eating my most delicious miso porridge this morning, I decided to jump in!

Here is all that is left of my miso porridge:
 
 It was warm and creamy and earthy and oh-so-delicious on this cold, rainy, morning!  Sorry I didn't take any "before" pictures, but I was half asleep and rather hungry this morning.  In fact, I think my recipe was supposed to be for two servings, but I gobbled it up all by myself!

Last night I put 1/2 cup of old-fashioned rolled oats (steel cut oats would be perfect for this recipe, but I didn't have any on hand) and 1 cup of filtered water into a small saucepan.  I cooked it for a couple of minutes until all the water was absorbed by the oats.  Then I removed the pan from the heat and let it all cool down.  Once cool (maybe 15-20 minutes or so?), I mixed in 1 Tablespoon of mellow white miso paste, put the lid on the pan, and left it to sit overnight.  (edited to add: be sure to really cook the water & oats well so that the oats are very thick before you add in the miso; the miso will break down the oat mixture so that it will become a much more soupy mixture, especially if you leave too much water in it the night before)

This morning the miso-oatmeal porridge was runny and fragrant with that earthy miso smell (I love that smell).  I put the pan over low heat and let the porridge warm up until it steamed, but not boiled.  Then I put a dollop of fresh grass-fed butter on top, swirled it into the porridge, and dug in.  YUM!  You could add some honey, maple syrup, or any other natural sweetener to the porridge, but I loved the savory and buttery flavor without it.  I could even taste a hint of natural sweetness in it - from either the oatmeal or the miso or both?

Miso oatmeal porridge is an excellent addition to my breakfast repertoire, and I will be making it again and again.  I think I am going to research recipes that use other grains in the miso porridge - millet, brown rice, etc.  If anyone ever reads this and has any recipes to share, I'm all ears!

3 comments:

  1. MMM... sounds so good! (BTW, I just finished adding my post to the Twister!)

    I love the earthy smell of miso too - where did you get the idea to use it for soaking? This is brilliant. I'm going to try it - must see if I still have miso.

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  2. Wardeh - want to laugh - it's one of the recipes in "Nourishing Traditions" that I never really noticed! I have always used the basic "Breakfast Porridge" recipe. But thanks to your eCourse, I have been browsing my NT cookbook again, and it caught my eye yesterday. I may even venture to say that I like it more than the basic soaked oatmeal recipe! However, I LOVE miso, so I have a bias. I have been searching for congee and okayu (japanese rice porridge) recipes all morning; I feel obligated to experiment some more! :)

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  3. Sounds awesome Lisa, I just ordered Nourishing Traditions!!

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